If the sales tax in your city is $8.1\%$, how much tax would you pay for an item that costs $\$15$ before tax? Round to the nearest cent.
Answer: In order to find the amount of sales tax you would pay, multiply the sales tax by the original price of the item. ${8.1\%} \times {\$15} =$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $8.1\%$ is equivalent to $8.1 \div 100$ $8.1 \div 100 = 0.081$ Multiply the sales tax you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of sales tax that must be paid. Round to the nearest cent. $0.081$ $\times$ $$15$ = $$1.22$ You would pay $$1.22$ in sales tax.